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Story by Patrick Garratt

Fri, Jul 17, 2009 | 09:44 BST

Rare – Avatars have “changed the face of the Xbox”

Rare animation head Louise Ridgeway told VG247 at Develop this week that the developer’s work on 360′s Avatar system had altered consumers perception of the machine as something for “hardcore gamers”.

“I really think that we’ve kind of changed the face of the Xbox,” she said.

“It’s gone from something that was always perceived as a hardcore gamer’s console. I mean, I really like games. I like Resident Evil, I like Street Fighter, I like the typical boys games, but when I boot up the Xbox 360 and my daughter gets on there to play Street Fighter – she’s really good as Ken – I’m feel really proud of the fact that she can join in.

“It’s just that little bit more inviting, you know, and I think it broadens it to a whole new demographic of people.”

Ridgeway added that 360′s exeperience is inclusive, and should be viewed as such.

“It’s a really great console, and there’s so many great things on it to play that everybody should be involved,” she said.

You can listen to the full interview with Louise, recorded at Develop this week, in our latest podcast.